Saint Lawrence

Purple-red magic exploded. Artoria slashed through the air before her, and a crimson arc of sword light fell from the sky toward the sea.

Almost instinctively, she hid Seraphina behind her.

That intense, sinister fluctuation directly affected her from a hundred miles away.

Artoria felt countless whispers rise in her mind, countless wills telling her—

Now, evolving together with Lawrence and bringing these pitiful fools along was the choice of a true king.

No kingdom could last forever, but becoming one with the kingdom would allow everyone to transcend the cycle of life and death.

Artoria let out a muffled groan. She had already been affected.

"Protect my Source Essence."

The ground vanished beneath her feet. Artoria only heard that powerful, cruel man say those words before the board beneath her feet disappeared.

She caught the red-haired girl as she cried out, quickly adjusted her posture in midair, and plummeted violently downward.

Looking up, she saw the black-haired man’s hair flying wildly as a Black Great Sun slowly rose behind him.

At that moment, Artoria felt a chilling impact. She was certain that special fluctuation indiscriminately attacked everyone here.

The fellow who called himself a professor had his mind crushed after just one encounter. His fate was unknown.

Even she found it difficult to resist and had been affected.

But Mercenary Tao… he was like hard, cold black ice, showing no sign of being affected at all.

At that moment, Artoria realized the gap between herself and him.

In the sky, Bai Cangshu listened to the incessant whispers echoing through his mind, countless mental fluctuations crashing over him like waves.

Yet his eyes widened as he stared at the enormous crimson lifeform in the distance.

You have witnessed Crimson Pope Lawrence (Life Furnace Form). Mental check in progress...

Checking...

Check successful. You are immune to mental contamination.

The notification kept appearing like a flood of messages. As long as Bai Cangshu did not look away, the check continued without pause.

This was the second time Bai Cangshu had encountered such a situation since that God Hand.

"Bai Cangshu, didn’t you want more than anything to experience the passionate, burning hearts of humanity?"

"Become one with me. Let us climb the Life Ladder together. What do you say?"

Lawrence’s voice echoed beside Bai Cangshu’s ears. He felt a sting and reached up to touch them, only to find blood flowing from his eardrums.

Bai Cangshu looked at his own blood, and the corners of his mouth curled upward beyond his control. This was the first time he had encountered something like this.

Simply witnessing the other party had affected his lifeform.

With his hands behind his back, Bai Cangshu naturally activated the Sky Dancing Technique and flew straight toward Lawrence from the sky.

The scarlet light reflected in his eyes grew ever more intense over the sea. With each pulse of brightness and dimness, Bai Cangshu’s pupils unconsciously turned crimson as well.

Bai Cangshu descended faster and faster. In the end, he was so fast that the surrounding air turned red. He fell like a flaming meteor, his limbs hanging limply behind him.

Rather than flying toward Lawrence of his own accord, it looked more as though some invisible force were dragging him over.

Artoria stood firmly atop the sea, looking up at the scene with the holy sword hanging over the water.

Seraphina looked around and found the professor floating on the surface, his life or death unknown. She said worriedly, "His Excellency Lawrence has probably already succeeded. His Excellency Mercenary Tao is in danger. Don’t worry about me—go help him!"

Artoria lowered her head and saw the girl staring at the professor floating on the water. She understood that the girl probably meant for Artoria to leave her here on the sea.

Then Artoria could go support that host, while she herself would save the professor who had just tried to kill her.

Artoria could no longer judge whether such salvation could still be called "kindness." It had gone beyond mere foolishness and seemed almost unreal.

Could an individual with thinking ability truly disregard their own safety to such an extent?

What was the point of saving the professor in this situation?

Artoria felt that rather than a Saintess, this red-haired girl was more like a symbol, a ritual that represented kindness and salvation itself.

The meaning of her existence was to save others. As for the girl named Seraphina herself, no one cared.

Her kindness had become twisted.

Artoria ignored her. Instead, she grabbed Seraphina and turned to sprint madly toward the shore. Running across the sea was no difficult task for someone with magic as powerful as hers.

As she passed the professor, she casually picked him up as well. She found that he was bleeding heavily all over, his eyes were gone, and his nasal cavity, mouth, and eardrums had all been destroyed.

A violent impact erupted from the distant sea. The next moment, a colossal visible wave formed upon the ocean and swept outward in every direction.

The sea where Holy City Latina had once stood resembled an enormous vortex sunken to its limit. The surrounding sea level stood dozens of meters higher than the city’s ruins.

The seabed was clearly visible.

Amid the roaring of distorted air, Mercenary Tao, his black hair whipping wildly, punched the enormous tumor thousands of meters tall.

A Blazing White shockwave burst from his body and erupted from behind the tumor, directly clearing away the seawater and exposing the seabed and the enormous ruins beneath the city.

"Ah!"

A piercing scream rang out in an instant, as though countless people were shrieking in his ears at once. It ruptured Bai Cangshu’s eardrums in a moment and violently shook his brain.

Bai Cangshu shook his head. Even he felt slightly dizzy for an instant.

But this degree of pain did not make Bai Cangshu stop. Instead, it made him even more excited.

Pieces of Kirin Armor appeared one after another, and Bai Cangshu’s body was instantly strengthened once more. Nor did it stop there—Satsui no Hado naturally began flowing over his hands.

"Scream. Don’t you dare stop. Keep screaming for me!"

"Ha!"

Bai Cangshu formed his right hand into a blade. The pitch-black Great Demon Spear fiercely pierced the enormous tumor, and Satsui no Hado surged in, exploding like hot oil.

Countless chunks of flesh and blood spewed forth. The wails of agony nearly completely occupied Bai Cangshu’s hearing.

He could no longer hear any other sound.

Bai Cangshu ignored everything else and grew increasingly violent. The force of every strike pierced through the tumor. Finally, that cold, deathly intent surged forth.

Bai Cangshu threw a punch, and Myriad Death Intent suddenly entered the tumor.

The crimson tumor, which had constantly expanded and contracted like a heart, abruptly froze. The next moment, it exploded with a bang.

An enormous amount of bloody fluid sprayed from the tumor. Beneath Bai Cangshu’s Kirin Armor, his skin began to bulge little by little. Every cell in his body felt an immense surge of life force.

That life force was almost even more intense than the one the Goddess had used to restore him after cleansing his bloodline.

Special Reincarnator EX051, you have come into contact with the Life Furnace.

In this state, vitality is greatly increased. Immortality and recovery abilities are temporarily increased.

Creak. Creak.

Bai Cangshu lowered his head and saw new muscles beginning to grow involuntarily from the immense life force in his hands.

Because his genes had no designated place for these muscles, the excess flesh grew from the surface of his skin.

The next moment came a second piece, then a third…

Countless muscles began proliferating from every corner of Bai Cangshu’s body.

Above the blood mist, countless eyes opened in the void. Lawrence sighed sorrowfully.

"A beast that pursues power shall ultimately be buried by power. How tragic."

He felt his will rising ever higher. In an instant, he broke free from the shackles of that city and flesh. He would ascend into the stars and become one with the flesh of the entire planet.

He would cross the Life Ladder and become a true ancient god!

In the sky, a terrifying Dragon Roar emerged from the bronze vortex. Flames ignited amid the sea of clouds and set the entire sky ablaze in an instant.

"This world is ours!"